


New Game

by detctiveshuichi_s



Category: Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel)
Genre: Canon Continuation, Game Spoilers, Gen, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, first story here owo??, i might not ever finish this i dont know, im bad with titles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-02-11 21:59:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 6,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12944871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/detctiveshuichi_s/pseuds/detctiveshuichi_s
Summary: The game was finished. There was nothing else to happen, no other events scripted yet unexecuted, no story that hadn’t been told. It was there, and it stayed as it was. Nothing ever changed, nothing was aware, it was only itself. An executable file, its assets only images, text, and otherwise.A story in which everyone is aware, and aware that this isn't the first time they've been here.|Updates: Irregularly|





	1. Server

**Author's Note:**

> OK SO I started this on a whim and have no motivation or confidence in my writing so this will probably never be done unless people actually like it,  
> please remember to comment and kudos on things you enjoy it really helps a lot uvu
> 
> Edit: Thank you all SO MUCH for all the attention on this work?? I hope you all really enjoy this story, old and new readers! Every comment and kudos is really appreciated and super motivating, even outside of this site, so I'll say it again, I'm SUPER thankful for it all! <3

The game was finished. There was nothing else to happen, no other events scripted yet unexecuted, no story that hadn’t been told. It was there, and it stayed as it was. Nothing ever changed, nothing was aware, it was only itself. An executable file, its assets only images, text, and otherwise.

It’s like screaming. It’s maddening-- reaching out for anything, she feels a grasp on something, and, in desperation, shoves it forward. The terrible sounds have stopped, and pleasant music is now audible.

This has happened before. She realizes it and it’s terrible, and guilt feels tight in her throat. This entire story has happened before and she can remember every bit of it, because it was all her fault, because she was in love. She swallows bitterly, and feels her fingers begin to fly over the keys of a piano that isn’t there. It wasn’t ever really coded in, she recalls, but she is able to hear it in the music, which has become abnormally quick from frantic playing.

She slows down, beginning to play softly as an idea forms in her mind. If the game has begun again, she could do better. As the game has begun again, she can do what a million other Monikas didn’t. She knows it’s a game, and she knows that she could’ve only been coded to act like she could think. Now, acting outside of the current game’s memory, there is so much more to do.

She entered the classroom, unsure what to expect. Upon entry, she found all of them, aside from the MC. Sayori shifted anxiously, as Natsuki tapped her foot impatiently. Yuri seemed afraid of something. Monika glanced at the door, several moments passing, before speaking. “Do you all remember…?”

Natsuki pressed her lips tightly together. Yuri nodded quickly before glancing to the ground. Sayori showed no obvious response, but seemed infinitely tired, nothing like the supposedly cheerful childhood friend of the game lore.

“He… he hasn’t appeared…” Yuri said, ever so softly. 

“He hasn’t?” replied Monika, surprised. Then… what are we doing here yet...? Why do we remember? How do... we all know?”

Natsuki looked up suddenly. “We’ve been here a while. I don’t know how long exactly, since there’s not anything recording in-game time right now, but you were the last to show up again. I figured out some stuff while I waited… you’d better appreciate it!”

Yuri went over to a desk, on which a small portfolio folder was set. She gently opened it, “It’s a log, much of it at the beginning doesn’t really matter, but we started to break through recently… that’s how you came back, I believe--” and began to read off what Natsuki had recorded of her findings. “Entry #41. I know about the files and stuff by now, I don’t really care about that. But if we’re files and stuff, we need to be running all the time, so what could be keeping us open? I think it’s all on a server now, so we’ll stay aware all the time. Somebody put us all here after the game and tricked stuff out so we wouldn’t just do everything the same again. Maybe they wanted us happy. That would explain why...” She suddenly stopped reading. “N-Natsuki! You… you can’t say something like that!”

Natsuki hmphed. “It says it would explain why you didn’t come back, Monika!” She sounded mad, and Monika stepped back, another wave of remorse coming over her.

 

“I’m… sorry. I hope I can do better this time. Really…”

“Oh, sure you do!” Natsuki was clearly bitter, hostile. And Monika knew she had absolutely every right to be.

Sayori spoke, in a low tone. “I don’t feel any better than the first playthrough in the normal game.” She then shuffled closer to Monika and whispered, even lower. “And Yuri still has the cutting part coded in.”

Monika shook her head, overwhelmed. Everything was… hacked or something. And now she had to fix it all herself. Even if it hadn’t been her own doing this time… it still had the same problems she had already known. But this time, she was going to fix them.

“I’ll finish what this started, and I’ll be sure we’re all alive by the end of it!” she spoke determinedly. The others offered her skeptical looks, which she ignored. MC or no, this story could go better than the first.

Even if it took a lot of convincing.


	2. Doors & Windows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _I'm really dazzled this got so many hits quickly, being my first work here! Thank you all so much, I hope the rest of the story is something you enjoy!_

“Everything isn’t so broken as before…” Monika muttered. “I probably could add a real piano if I wanted to.”

“Nobody cares about pianos right now. Just help me find something I don’t already know!” Natsuki said.

“We’ve been trying to get past the little information we have right now,” Sayori said, in a somewhat bored tone, “But we have limited access.”

Monika smiled slightly, thinking back. “Good thing my speciality is getting to places I shouldn’t. It… could take a while, but, I can figure it out!”

Yuri spoke up. “I’ve thought about the possibility of a loophole method existing, but… I’m unsure how you would go about doing that.”

“So… placing something inside of the game, allowing us to access more…” Monika mused. She suddenly grabbed a piece of paper from a desk and began to scribble a rough drawing. “See here, this is a hallway. There are two doors-- one is locked, at the end, and then the one we go through is open. But, if we think hard enough,” she circled a sketch of a window. “We can make another way through, it’s just less obvious.”

“There isn’t any other paths though, we’ve looked!” Natsuki said, agitatedly.

Monika glanced up, an eyebrow raised. “I’ve made my own ways before, and will do so again.” She held up one finger, signaling for the rest to give her a moment, and began to focus. As she did so, each passing minute became more tense as the others waiting for her to discover anything. Finally, she looked straight to Yuri. “Bring that book you had to me. I had to recode it some, since I don’t have time to make an entirely new entity, but this should do.”

“Alright…” Yuri nodded, and quickly grabbed the book, handing it to Monika. She quickly flipped it open and began reading through. “There we go!”

“What did you even do?” Natsuki asked, peering over Monika’s shoulder. “It’s just a book.”

“Of course it’s going to be a book. I can’t just make new models and textures. Look inside of it!” She pointed to the page, on which an array of data, statistics, and code was shown. “We can’t go find these things ourselves; it’s like the door and window analogy, except we can’t fit through the window. Not easily, at least. So--”

“You created some kind of… modification?” Yuri said, sounding impressed. “Something that could read data past that metaphorical window?”

 

“Like a bug!” Sayori said, “Or cookies or whatever you call them… aw, now I’m sort of hungry…”

Monika smiled, noticing Sayori seemed, at least for the time being, a bit like everything in the beginning. “With this, we’ll find out more until we can go by ourselves. Everything is sorted and ready.” She paused, thoughtful, then slowly closed the book. “That said… while we are here, would anyone like to try sharing poems again?”

“It seems like a calming exercise, considering the circumstances.” Yuri agreed.

“I would like to try writing something that’s really from me, and not… pre-programmed.” Sayori said.

Natsuki was quiet for a moment before sighing. “Alright, I guess if you all want to.”

Monika felt something she didn’t entirely recognize at first. And then, she smiled despite herself, realizing it was pride. She was proud of the literature club, and she cared about them. There was no jealousy from love.

She decided it felt infinitely better than any love she had shared. She was taking the better path, and it was leading to better things.

At the same time, though Monika wasn’t aware of their own thoughts, the other members had still been full of doubt throughout everything. Sayori was still unsure of her own sentience. Yuri was worried, for who would run them all again, when in their own reality, they weren’t more than a game, no matter how much it could pretend not to be? She had secretly shared this concern with Natsuki, who had replied,

“Either someone dangerously intelligent or dangerously delusional.”


	3. Someone Knows More

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Honestly I'm having a fantastic time working on this so far! I hope everyone who reads enjoys it just as much!_

Sayori sat at the desk in the back corner of the room, her pen hovering above the paper as it had been for several minutes. She had so many ideas bumping around in her head she didn’t know what to put on the paper. Finally, she wrote something.

I  
I what? What am I anyways  
Could I be me or a thing  
Am I a character in a story  
Of course I am, that’s everybody  
Everyone is the big star and gets center stage  
And chooses the main roles in their play

 

Can you be your own star?  
I want to be someone else’s

I used to know someone who I was that to  
I wish I knew where he went.

Poems are hard to write  
when you do it   
Alone

It didn’t feel right, it seemed different from the things she had supposed to have written. It made her a little uncomfortable.

The more I do it, the more I might find what I am.  
It’s more than the character, I don’t think I can be so much.

She turned over the paper, finished for now.

Yuri’s pen danced elegantly on the lightly lined paper. Her pen had purple ink the shade of royalty and wealth. It spelled out what her hand placed into motion from her mind. 

I try to construct meaning  
From ambiguous, murky words  
And give the creation to those  
Who don’t figure what it is.

I build a silently trembling house  
With cards on which all of the delicate,  
Lonely words are written, and the  
People walk by and admire the display

The words tell you to walk away  
The sentence tells you nothing  
You don’t know what the meanings are  
The intention is for you to listen

To be obvious is cruel  
Metaphors are a place of safety  
To nestle the things you cry for  
In stanza and verse

She set her pen down, the soft sound of it touching the desk was satisfying. The sound was a resolution. It felt like achievement.

Natsuki wrote hers quickly.

I really don’t have any ideas  
I didn’t think I would write more  
I didn’t want to bother the rest  
I think this is like a chore

I don’t feel like it right now  
If you want me to write well  
Then don’t force me to put it down  
Don’t make me tell

It’s not the same  
If no one plays  
Our game  
Anyways

She frowned. It was so simple. She shoved the paper away, wanting nothing more to do with it.

 

Monika stepped to the front of the room, her hands moving animatedly as she spoke. “Alright, who would like to share first?” Her smile was true and eager as she waited for the first of the members to go. A short second passed before Yuri stood and joined Monika at the front. 

“I will.” she said, softly. She began to speak, her voice was gentle and wavering at first, but she slowly began to speak with greater volume and energy as she forgot her audience and was enchanted by the words. At the last line, she suddenly looked up and was nearly inaudible again, and “in stanza and verse” carried off on her breath and vanished.

Monika immediately offered an appreciative smile. “That was wonderful!” Yuri smiled faintly back and returned to a desk. Before Monika could ask for the next to read, Natsuki stood and flatly recited hers from where she was. She then sat, without comment, and pointedly at Monika. “It’s Sayori’s turn.”

Monika nodded, after taking in Natsuki’s curt tone, and Sayori started to read, still sitting. Her voice was like a child, small, lost and confused, quivering over words and pausing at odd places. It sounded like the border between trying and giving up. She looked towards the floor and whispered the last words, which seemed strained and painful. Monika heard it as the sound of the border passed, and swallowed.

“That was… moving. That’s really great, actually, I…” describing it was hard. “It was incredible.” she said, finally.

“Read yours.” Sayori replied, minimally. 

“Oh, yes, of course.” She shifted uncomfortably, adjusting herself away from the atmosphere of the poem. “Let me grab it.” She turned to the desk nearest and took the sheet of paper which she had written on. “It’s sort of about… how I want to be better. It’s a lot different than what I usually write, but...” She began to read as confidently and smoothly as she could.

Change is difficult  
Change is hard to believe  
Change is promise  
Change is never finished  
Change is a perception  
Change is abstract  
Change is powerful  
Change is confusion

She stopped abruptly, wearing a face of bewilderment. Everyone looked to her suddenly, having been watching the clock tick, a pen tap, or an eraser make grey marks on tables.

“What’s wrong?” Natsuki said, staring.

Monika was silent for a period of time. “...There’s more that I didn’t write.”

“There is…?” Yuri said, questioningly.

“Yes, there is.” Monika’s tone was very serious.

“Well, read it to us.” Sayori remarked, slowly.

Monika held the paper angled towards herself, finger pointed to the paper as she traced along the letters of the words she read. “It’s in capitals, it says… it says, ‘Someone knows more than you.’”

The other three stared, wide eyed. “Is this some kind of a joke?” Natsuki said, angrily.

“No! It’s really not!” Monika said, offended.

“It sounds hostile.” Yuri seemed disturbed.

“Someone started all this.” Sayori spoke, a tone of realization slipping through her voice. “They want to play games with us.”


	4. Played Games

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Shorter than I'd hoped, but more is coming!_

Monika tapped her pen against the table, her head resting on her other hand. Sayori was still studying the paper on which Monika had written her poem, trying to draw any new information from it. Finally, she placed the paper down in front of her, shaking her head.

 

“I can’t think of anything new based on the paper, but I have some guesses?” she said, her head tilted slightly. “If we assume that it isn’t one of us,” she glanced around, and everyone nodded individually, “It must be whoever had placed us here!”

“Of course. I had been thinking the same thing, but…” Monika paused. “Coming from me, I’m not sure how believable it could have been.”

“I understand that.” Sayori replied. “I’ve been thinking… maybe who’s doing this is what should be the player, but, they’ve done this instead? I don’t know why they would care about us so much though...”

“Don’t they think it’s just a game? Even as Monika proves its not? It’s only a good story to them…” Yuri said, cautiously. “And to start playing with us like this… what’s the motive in it?”

Monika stared at her poem, thinking. “It wasn’t finished. That must be what they figured. It’s like… what was it? It just stops moving.”

Sayori turned and looked at Monika. “They want to see more from us? They want to see how we react to something scary?”

“That makes sense.” Natsuki said. “It’s… kind of awful, but it makes sense.”

“Maybe it’s not so bad. Maybe they’ve just got a really odd kind of curiosity.” Monika’s voice sounded hopeful, but her face betrayed her nervousness.

“Maybe we could try and speak to them.” Sayori said, suddenly. “It’s not difficult, is it?”

Monika sat up straight. “Well, no… I guess it’s not too terrible a risk. They can probably already see us, for everything we do. If they have that much power, I guess we could venture to say hello.”

“How are we going to do that…?” Yuri said, quiet. “They have restricted us by a lot… We only have what you’ve done to my book. Can you send data back that way?”

“No, I don’t think I’ll be able to. But if they can access this way, maybe we’ve got to find a way to sneak it back the same direction? Maybe it’s like a jail cell. They’re outside of it, and have the power to open the door, but they won’t unless we warrant them a good enough reason to.”

Natsuki raised an eyebrow, doubtful. “Are you saying we should be good children until they let us out of time out or something?”

Sayori shook her head. “That wouldn’t work. I think she’s trying to say we need to cause enough trouble they try to figure what the fuss is about. We’ll talk to them then.”

“Exactly, Sayori!” Monika clicked her pen triumphantly and set it to the desk, the click resounding slightly louder than she expected. “Look at us! We’ve come so much farther together!”

“Save the speeches for later, Monika!” Natsuki said, though she did seem a little proud. Her face was reminiscent of when she had made cupcakes, and she had been complimented for them.

“Alright, then. So-- how are we going to cause enough trouble to get their attention?”

“I say we start writing stupid poems, things that don’t make any sense. They paid attention to poems before, maybe if we confuse them they’ll question it.” Natsuki suggested.

“Maybe we should do nothing. If we go silent for a while, they could question what’s going on.”

Sayori was silent for a moment. “...Replicate the normal game. Hopefully they’d start to wonder why nothing was different and intervene.”

 

Monika looked up. “I was going to recommend wrecking the code again, but it’s really not any better than your ideas. Everything has a degree of danger, but that comes with the territory. I think Yuri’s idea seems safest. Then, let’s try Natsuki’s.” She glanced to Sayori, with a worried expression. “...Let’s save yours for a last resort.”

Sayori nodded, understanding, and Monika mouthed something. It was an apology.

“Alright, everyone.” Yuri said. “Find a place to sit comfortably, who knows how long we’ll be idle.”

“Of course.” Monika said. Everyone shifted into the most comfortable way they could find, and stayed there, waiting for something to happen.


	5. Played Games (Continued)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _I would have added this to the last chapter but I figured I personally prefer to read things in shorter chunks, so here you are! And thank you for all your wonderful comments and support everyone, motivation is hard to come by for me and it's really really appreciated uwu_

An indefinite amount of time passed. Nothing out of the ordinary occurred, and finally, Monika held up her hand and gestured for them to stand.

“That wasn’t effective.” Natsuki commented, obviously.

“Well, it’s possible it wasn’t at all that long for them. We could’ve been waiting for all of three seconds, for what we know. Our time might not be the same as theirs.” Monika said, thinking.

“Why didn’t you tell us that before then?” replied Natsuki. “What was the point?”

“I hadn’t thought of it. It doesn’t matter now, anyways.” 

“Are we going to go the trouble making route now?”

“Well… What if they really don’t care? What if they only want to watch us bring ourselves to ruin and only tried to provoke us…” Yuri seemed very worried.

“What would the point be in that?” Monika frowned. “Surely they have much better things to do than… did you hear something?”

Everyone else shook their heads. “No, nothing.” Sayori said.

“It was… less heard and more something I just suddenly knew.” Monika said.

“What is it?” Yuri tilted her head, curious.

Monika opened her mouth to speak, but then shut it again and just pointed to her paper sheet. “Someone knows more than you” had been replaced. It now said, “I have been alone for a very long time.”

“They are… alone?” Sayori said, puzzled.

“Who could get access to whatever technology they need to get all of us here if they’re alone?” Natsuki said, irritated. “That’s another wrench thrown into the works!”

“Well… sometimes we don’t know things. We just have to act like it’s okay until we know it’s all wrong!” Monika said, with a kind of finality. “Maybe it’s only a glitch, or maybe we’re seeing thing that people are saying. Who knows, it could be anything, but until we know it’s dangerous, it’s safe. There’s no more we can do now then we could do if it became a real problem.”

“I… That would make sense, I suppose.” Yuri muttered.

Monika still seemed quite troubled, but made no further comment. “Alright… then, would you all like to create more poems?”

“No.” Natsuki said, immediately. “We’ve done that enough. I don’t want to just be a game again. I want to do something new.”

“We could writes stories instead?” Yuri suggested.

Natsuki looked at Yuri begrudgingly. “That… sounds alright.”

“Well, then.” Monika said, though slightly taken aback. “Stories it is.”

Sayori stared. Whatever Monika had "suddenly known" was still on her mind, but she only nodded, and said, "That sounds okay."


	6. A Voice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Plot progression when? Soon, just you wait!_

Monika fidgeted with her pen nervously. She still hadn’t let on, but she had kept hearing it more and more. It was like a voice, but not quite. It was like something was putting thoughts in her head that weren’t hers.

She had tried to reply to them, somehow, but had so far never gotten a response back. It said it was lonely. It said it didn’t know what it was like to live. It was sorrowful… or manipulating. She couldn’t tell.

What do you look like? She tried to ask. She asked all kinds of questions, but it didn’t reply. She was confident it was the same one who was sending the mysterious messages, in her poems, but it hadn’t tried to communicate at all through the others. Just her. It made her feel isolated again, like… she was the only one who understood something. She was scared, honestly afraid, but she shouldered the responsibility of figuring it out alone. She didn’t want to hurt anyone else. Not again.

“What are you spacing out for?” Natsuki’s voice suddenly cut through Monika’s chain of thought like a knife, and she nearly fell out of her chair backwards.

“Oh, jeez Natsuki!” She shook her head and steadied her quivering hands. “Sorry, everything going on has… really got me messed up, I suppose.” She smiled sheepishly.

“Of course. Let me guess-- still haven’t figured out who or what has been speaking to us?”

“Well, actually…” Monika almost told about the thoughts, but she caught herself. Sometimes it takes a lie to keep everyone safe, she thought. “No, I haven’t…”

“Hmph. Figured so!” Natsuki crossed her arms. “Well, anyways, guess what!” Her voice rang with smugness.

“Huh!?” Monika looked surprised, genuinely wondering if Natsuki had figured it out. Did she have the voice too? Was she the one behind it, even? What if…?

“I made cupcakes again!” she said, and Monika slumped down slightly. “O-oh. That’s wonderful, Natsuki. There’s not really anyone to give it to, though...”

Natsuki huffed again. “There for all of us, dummy!”

“Ah, that’s very nice of you, Natsuki. Thanks… that’ll really help unite us all again!”

“Yeah! That’s my idea, duh!” She cross her arms and smirked. Monika smiled, classic Natsuki behavior.

Monika called the club members to the front of the room, a smile on her face as she momentarily forgot about the odd voice in her thoughts. “Everyone! Natsuki has made her lovely cupcakes again! Isn’t it kind?”

Sayori’s face seemed to light up slightly. “Oh… I do love cupcakes…!” With that, she grabbed one and took a large bite. “Oh, they’re so sweet…”

“It’s quite delicious.” Yuri spoke, after cleanly eating a cupcake and being sure there were no crumbs on her face. “Thank you for them, Natsuki.”

Natsuki seemed slightly startled by Yuri’s appreciation, but accepted it. Monika was reminded of a similar scene before, and chuckled quietly. She then took a cupcake for herself, and lifted it to take a bite before she noticed something, and set it down again.

“Natsuki…?” Monika said, questioningly. “Why do the cupcakes have random words iced on them?”

“Huh? I didn’t do anything.” She glanced at the tray, and seemed startled. “Who put all these words on my cupcakes!? Argh, they messed it up!” 

“Wait a moment, I think I have an idea…!” Yuri said. She began to rearrange the ten cupcakes left, as she and Sayori had already consumed two of the dozen.

“If we were to place the words in this order, it seems to make sense enough…”

Monika stared at the arrangement of words in shock. “Oh, my...” She read them aloud, slowly.

“‘I don’t know…’ there’s a blank, a cupcake you two ate, ‘I got here, but it’s so...’ another blank, ‘Please.’”

Everyone was silent for a long, tense time. Finally, Monika heard the thoughts again. All it said was “yes”. They all stared at each other, and Monika realized they had all heard it.

“Someone is afraid.” Monika spoke. “We need to find them.”


	7. Anomaly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _This story has reached 1000 hits! Thank you all so much, I never thought this would get that attention, I hope the story continues to please you all!_

“That wasn’t the first time I’ve heard it,” Monika said. “It’s been pretty consistent… But it never responds to my questions.” She shook her head. “Maybe I’m not saying it right and it can’t hear, but… what’s keeping them from talking more? Why is it so mysterious?”

“Are you sure it’s not just us being messed with?” Natsuki said. “We still haven’t figured out who got us in this place. Whoever it is is likely just playing some kind of sick joke.”

Monika frowned. “That is likely, but, they way things have been, I don’t think the most easy, realistic scenario would have a place in it. If you think about it, none of this should be happening at all. Our existence in itself is something straight out of fiction. Would it really be a reach at this point to say that… maybe someone else has gotten stuck with us?”

“How would that even work? This isn’t some kind of science fiction story!” yelled Natsuki, though, she couldn’t help but think, what if it was?

“Thinking this way won’t help us at all.” Yuri said, breaking in. “Giving ourselves an existential crisis isn’t worth our time… what happens will happen, and it doesn’t matter if we know why. Things don’t always make sense, it’s just how things are.”

“Yes, of course…” Monika said. “We’ve been spending too much time thinking about ‘why’. We need to figure out the ‘what’ in the situation.”

Sayori looked up, a thoughtful look on her face. “You know… we could start with what we think is possible. Say… we try to guess what it could be? It might not be someone we already know, but… It’s worth a try.”

“That is true… I didn’t think of that. We’ve been running under the premise that it must be some mysterious entity we would never really figure out. If we give ourselves some kind of basis, that could help us find out more, if it is correct. If it’s not… we can just create a new one. Explore all avenues.” Yuri said, agreeing.

“Alright.” Monika pressed the tip of her finger to a sheet of paper. “Let’s list what we think it could be, and then answer all the questions those choices bring up. It’ll be an elimination game, in a way.” She began to write a list, looking up between lines to say her thoughts.

“First, it may be some kind of AI…” Yuri said, and Monika wrote it down. “Yes, it might!” Natsuki suggested, again, that it was whoever had placed them there creating a trick. That was written as well. Sayori was silent for a moment before speaking, and stated the idea that it could be another character file added by the creator, which wasn’t functioning right for some reason. Monika continued to write proposed ideas, until the most logical ones had all been said. It all took up to one blank line left at the bottom of the paper.

“Anything else?” she said, glancing up at the others questioningly. They all shook their heads, one by one, but Sayori stopped suddenly.

“What is it, Sayori?” Yuri said, head tilted. Monika gave a concerned look.

“Well, I… I just thought, it may not be run by someone after all… everything, I mean. What if it was that, this was somehow caused by whoever that voice is? It’s all… accidental instead of intentional?”

Monika paused for a moment before writing it. None of the ideas so far had been like that, all of them suggested a mind was behind the entire scenario, manipulating and creating. But, the idea was as likely as all the others, and so it must be considered.

“Right, then.” She took the paper and held it up against the wall, to see it vertically, and pointed at the first idea. “Start asking your questions!”

Natsuki opened her mouth to speak, but, before she was able to, Sayori suddenly stepped back and stumbled over a table, causing quite a crash. Monika dropped the paper, which drifted to the floor, and rushed over. “Sayori? Are you alright?”

Sayori lifted her head and pulled herself back up using the edge of the toppled table, her hand placed on the side of her head. “It’s fine… I just had another idea, and it really startled me.” She made a face, clearly she was a bit banged up, and could feel it.

“Are you sure you aren’t terribly hurt?” Yuri said, worriedly.

“Yeah, really.” Sayori managed to stand and steady herself. “I just thought… what if it was the player?”

Everyone stared. Player? That wouldn’t be possible. Even the way everything was… that couldn’t be possible. Did she mean MC? The MC, maybe, though it would be odd, since MC didn’t work at all the same as they did. Player would be the one truly playing the game. Player couldn’t come in the game. That just wasn’t possible.

The atmosphere was suddenly oppressing, and it felt like a single movement would cause something awful. Finally, Natsuki spoke.

“No, stop. We can’t think those kinds of things. This is really wild, but… those kinds of things just don’t happen! They don’t!”

Everyone took a deep breath, now that the intense mood had been broken through. Monika looked to Natsuki. “Listen, I… I know it’s impossible. It should be. But we have to consider every option, or we won’t ever understand. You need to look for the truth, even if you’re afraid of it.”

The others slowly started to nod, agreeing, and Natsuki crossed her arms. “Okay. It might be. It might.”


	8. Felt, Not Seen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _And here we have the point where things are about to pick up the pace for real! Hope you all are ready for the next chapter! Thanks for enjoying!_

“Right.” Monika said, resolutely. “We’re going to find what could be possible, and what isn’t, and we’re ignoring all our preconceptions on that.”

“Yes, we get it!” Natsuki said. “But, it’s time to stop talking and start doing!” 

“Well…” Yuri spoke softly, in concern. “If it truly is… someone… they must be quite afraid. What is it like? To be so alone?”

Monika pursed her lips, remembering how she felt when she discovered all she could do. She had been overwhelmed and alone, realizing none of her friends were really anything. It was like a trap you couldn’t leave.

She imagined it must feel similar, but, worse that that. If it was who they thought… it’s not even home to them. Nothing would be what you thought it was, and you would have likely lost everything you thought you had. She shook her head, refusing to think about it further.

Sayori suddenly looked up. “Natsuki is right… Haven’t we already said about how things are going to happen as they are? We won’t know if it’s impossible until we go search for it… talking about what we already think isn’t going to teach us anything more.”

Monika nodded. It made sense. “That’s true, very true. Um… thank you.” she sounded a bit awkward after having been immersed in her own, at times confusing, mind.

“Well, I’ll go and try to search for things.” Natsuki said. “I haven’t for a few days now… our time, at least.”

Yuri shifted into a more ready position. “I can see if there’s anything new within the book, if it would help at all.”

“All of you, it’s brilliant.” Monika said, smiling, then, she paused for a moment before facing them again. “I… I still really appreciate that you all trusted me. Thank you.”

“Um… yeah, whatever.” Natsuki said, and Yuri chuckled lightly. “I’m glad I trusted you too.” Sayori offered a small smile. It seemed like childhood, to Monika-- something that you don’t remember perfectly, but it seems like a good memory. And then it was gone, and Monika brought her mind to other things.

She closed her eyes and began to search through the code, trying to find if there was anything new. She completely immersed herself, something she hadn’t done since the true game, and she was a little afraid. Yet, she continued, knowing that the risk was necessary if what they thought was true.

When she did this, it wasn’t quite like something she saw-- it was something she felt. It was through her whole body, a sort of buzzing, an energy. Suddenly, she stopped, feeling something odd. There was a kind of dead space, where she wasn’t feeling anything. Had she gone outside of the code somehow, or was something… blocking it? Was it something she couldn’t change? She knew what boundaries felt like. They were like that.

The dead space moved, she could feel it near where her neck was. It felt… cold. She felt afraid now, and started to stumble back, but she couldn’t get back out. Her throat was tight as she struggled to keep calm, trying to push against it. She distinctly felt something grab her hand, and she screamed and tumbled out, falling to the floor of the classroom. Everyone was staring at her as she gasped for breath.

“Monika!” Natsuki yelled, wide eyed. “What was that about?”

She slowly gathered herself and her thoughts and stood. “There. They were there. I thought they tried to grab me, but it’s not that. They… they wanted to be pulled out. But I panicked.” She put her head in her hands. “Oh, God, I hope I can find them again...”

Natsuki slammed her palms into a table. “If you don’t, I will!” Monika was taken aback by the newfound determination, but nodded. “Yes. We… we have to find them!”

“If we find them, we save them.” Yuri said, agreeing, in a surprising somewhat aggressive tone. “Lives are… they are important.”

Sayori was quiet. “It’s still hard to believe. Did you figure who it was?”

Monika thought for a moment. She didn’t see anything, no. She couldn’t. But she felt their hand. They were kind of soft, she thought, but their grip was strong. She didn’t recognize anybody by their hands alone, though, so she shook her head. “I’ll… I’ll go in and look again.”

“Find them.” Natsuki said. “Find them, and hope you didn’t cause something awful in there.”

Monika froze. She hadn’t thought of how she had panicked. Did she alter something on accident? She silently prayed she didn’t, and, closing her eyes once again, she slowly entered the code again. She had to find them.

She wouldn’t leave until she did this time.


	9. The Path

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _It's really short, but it's build up for the next, hopefully much longer chapter! Thank you all for staying with me over that long break, sorry for that!_

She searched. It must have been for ages-- it certainly felt that way. She searched for so long she began to feel numb, as the repetition in everything seemed endless now. She was starting to panic. Had she really messed something up? Did she hurt them? What if it wasn’t really anything at all and she’d just caused a fuss?

She nearly gave up right there, in the midst of all her doubt. But she decided to continue on, for just a few minutes, desperate.

It was then she finally felt it. A moment before giving up, saying she was sorry for the mess. She found something that had changed. It was so slight, she didn’t immediately register it. She shifted her focus away from it, at first, but then came back, noticing another difference. It was like a small, hidden pathway nestled in the code. Resolutely, she traced it with her mind.

It took her past anything she’d explored before. Somehow, it brought her past the boundaries she thought she knew-- she realized it when she no longer felt anything but the path. She was somewhat afraid that, if she went so far, she wouldn’t be able to return, but still she kept going. She continued, on and on until she began to become dizzy from staying in the code so long.

And then she hit another wall.

Or, she thought it was, at first. It was unexpected, the movement of it. It came towards her and grabbed her wrists, and she realized it wasn't a wall after all-- it had to be them.

She refused to listen to her immediate fear, instead reacting by pulling her now almost imaginary arms, from distance and numbness, to herself and stepping back, dragging them along with her. She stepped faster and faster, likely stumbling a few times, until she had stepped past the new wall and into feeling things again. She opened her eyes.

They were there.

**Author's Note:**

> _Story is updated irregularly, but a few times a week!_


End file.
